I am looking to buy a Garmin Zumo 660, and am trying to weigh up the pros and cons of buying in Europe or Thailand. They have some newly overhauled models on Amazon.co.uk @ £405.99

I have read somewhere on here that Thai map upgrades are cheaper on Thai models.

Is it true that due to different firmware in Thai and European models, that certain features such as Junction view, and Lane assist will not work in Thailand on a European purchased model?

Any other differences between the two models that I might want to take into account?

If you want junction view to work in Thailand then you need the Thai OS (firmware) with Thailand Street Map (TSM) and matching junction view folder (JCV). If you buy a European sourced Garmin the Thai junction view will not work. Thailand Street Map v12.0 is 2,000 baht purchased from ESRI (THAILAND) Co., Ltd. or authorized dealer.

If you want junction view to work in Thailand then you need the Thai OS (firmware) with Thailand Street Map (TSM) and matching junction view folder (JCV). If you buy a European sourced Garmin the Thai junction view will not work. Thailand Street Map v12.0 is 2,000 baht purchased from ESRI (THAILAND) Co., Ltd. or authorized dealer.

After further research it appears that Thai junction view is not available on the Zumo 660 sold in Thailand. If that is the case then there is no advantage to paying THB 36,900 for it.

If you want junction view to work in Thailand then you need the Thai OS (firmware) with Thailand Street Map (TSM) and matching junction view folder (JCV). If you buy a European sourced Garmin the Thai junction view will not work. Thailand Street Map v12.0 is 2,000 baht purchased from ESRI (THAILAND) Co., Ltd. or authorized dealer.

After further research it appears that Thai junction view is not available on the Zumo 660 sold in Thailand. If that is the case then there is no advantage to paying THB 36,900 for it.

Thank you for your input. In that case, I think I will go for one of those renovated models from Amazon UK.

Whilst doing my research I came across Garmin's new models for 2012: http://www8.garmin.com/move/

Doesn't look like there are any updates for motorcycle models (Zumo) though. Just the Nuvi ones.

Also an article about TomTom buying out their Thai partners. So maybe their Thailand maps will improve. http://www.gpsbusinessnews.com/TomTom-Buys-out-JV-Partner-in-Thailand_a3366.html